This past weekend, I disconnected from the grid to spend time with my family. I came back and was pointed to a NY Times story on “Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley” and the TechCrunch response.
Both articles are interesting, and I could get my Master’s deconstructing the nuances of the NY Times story. But after reading both stories, there are two things I wanted to say after reading both articles:
1) The most effective PR people are counselors – The core of PRSA’s code of ethics is the phrase “responsible advocates.” That to me is the most important part of our job. If we are “yes men” or “yes women”, if we engage in the irresponsible tactics that too many paint our whole profession with, then we are not doing our role ethically and are not living up to our responsibilities.
This means pushing back to a client or a manager when it is called for. Not just a token pushback, but standing firm with the courage of our convictions. If a client has an idea and we think it is wrong, we are obligated to tell them so. It is one of the core responsibilities of our job.
A colleague of mine, Dave Close, once told me that every time we interact with a reporter our capital with a reporter either goes up or down. Additionally, the agency for which we work’s capital goes either up or down, so be sure we are always bringing something that increases our capital.
I want to take what Dave says one step further, and state that every time we interact with people as trusted public relations counselors, we also impact the capital of the entire industry. Every time someone “dials for dollars” or doesn’t work to form mutually beneficial relationships, we hurt the entire industry.
2) There is no magic bullet. Media/no media, tech bloggers/no tech bloggers. It is not a simple either/or proposition. Every engagement we undertake on behalf of our employers and out clients needs to be approached with fresh eyes. Following a carved-in-stone PR recipe is a course for disaster.
Yes, there are always certain fundamentals (research, planning, solid writing, determining how to reach the right audience, determining who the right audience is, listening to the audience and all stake holders, engaging in real conversations and of course – results that measure outcomes and results, not outputs). But the ingredients of each recipe need to change. Just because you launched a product for Company X using tactics A, B and C, doesn’t mean the same process with work for Company Y. Most of us know this, but there is always the danger of the rut that needs to be avoided.
Think of it, our goal is to help someone reach the top of a mountain. If we follow the rut, the same old way of doing things – we may have an easy path, but it is rarely the rut that takes you to the top of the mountain. Rather, the rut helps you circle the base pretty easily. But it is by blazing a new path that we reach the heights.
